A Different Perspective
by MaelstromBankai
Summary: There is a saying that I've come to really appreciate; its truth is uncomfortable, simple, and more insightful than I had thought it to be. I know I've changed. I know things aren't the same. For better or for worse, I'm not the same boy who fought for the Allied Shinobi Forces. "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!**

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

Perhaps he should've known things wouldn't be so easy. Hell, he _should_ have known it wouldn't be that easy.

The chirping noise was what saved his life; had he not heard them, he most likely would've been stabbed in the heart from behind and killed. With the warning, however, he had managed to substitute himself with one of the rocks that littered the scarred earth. The sound of the rock being sliced apart let him know that he had nearly been stabbed with a sword.

Stumbling backwards, his chakra still feeling buggy and slippery, he nevertheless steadied himself and leveled a glare at the culprit.

The young man that stood before him was someone he had once called 'brother'. Even now, as his eyes shone with hatred and his blade shrouded with deadly lightning, there was still that ache within him at how low his teammate had fallen. He had thought, hoped that he had returned to the person he once was during the course of the war.

And, like all dreams, he could say that he knew it was too good to be true.

"Sasuke…" His voice was low, yet heavy with resignation. Once again, he bitterly acknowledged that the others were right; he had been too idealistic, too optimistic about Sasuke's return. The others had been wary of the traitor, bar Sakura and himself, but they had needed all the help they could get to overcome the Uchiha.

It didn't help that he had arrived with Orochimaru, the Leaf's greatest traitor and murderer of the Sandaime.

Sasuke said nothing, though he closed his left eye. There was a lull in the moment, an extended period where they stared into each other's eyes. In that instant, Naruto understood everything.

The time for words had long since passed. Physical force was the only thing Sasuke would listen to at this point. There would be no explanation of his ideals, no attempts to reach out and try to steer him back. They had both made their choices.

Now they would have to deal with the consequences.

He winced as his chakra spiked suddenly, sending a wave of power rushing through his body. He could feel her raging inside him, her screams faintly registering in his mind, battering against the seal that kept her stuck within him.

Shit. The seal needed to be stabilized, soon. If he left it for too long, she'd just take over his body and come back.

Sasuke launched himself forward, his body streaking across the battlefield like a bullet. Naruto cursed when he saw the Uchiha cover half the distance within a moment.

 _ **"Naruto, just deal with the Uchiha as fast as you can! The others and I will try and keep her distracted!"**_

He grit his teeth as the chakra surge receded somewhat, just in time to meet Sasuke's charge head-on. Coating his arms with chakra, he swatted the descending slash aside and blocked the follow-up punch. Just as he threw his own punch, prepared to crush Sasuke's throat, Sasuke opened his left eye.

The Uchiha vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving Naruto surprised for a moment. The next thing he knew, a large mass of chakra slammed into his back, flinging him towards the Shinju. As he careened in the air, his eyes caught the large mass of purple chakra that towered towards the heavens.

' _Oh crap…'_

Righting himself immediately, he barely managed to form a counter when the Susano'o fired its arrow towards him. Like lightning it sped through the air, slicing through the air as it streaked towards him.

It disappeared the moment it made contact with his defense, a large blanket of black nothingness that he had managed to bring out. Seven balls made of the same black chakra hung at his back, suspended in midair.

Hastily shifting the makeshift shield into two swords, Naruto substituted to avoid the volley of chakra shuriken that Sasuke shot at him. Explosions razed what little of the earth that remained, kicking up clouds of dirt and further scaring it.

Appearing a meter away from Sasuke, Naruto went through a sequence of hand-seals. "Kokuo, help me out a little! Futton: Kōmu no Jutsu (Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique)!"

He exhaled a cloud of corrosive mist, sending it coiling round his general direction. Even though Sasuke would more than likely remain at a distance and fire projectiles at him, the corrosive mist would at least ensure that he didn't try any surprise attacks from behind.

The surge of chakra that hit him was unlike the others. It flooded his pathways with reckless abandon, the intense pressure sending sharp stabs of pain through his arm. His muscles twitched once, then exploded in a geyser of blood as large bone protrusions speared through.

Naruto tried to hold in the scream that wanted to come out. Gripping his left arm, the one which was now wrecked, he swore as he noticed flecks of chakra gathering at the fingertips.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Naruto swore again when the Susano'o breathed a huge fireball towards him, large enough to seem like a small meteor.

" _ **Shit! Naruto, aim it at the Uchiha! Hurry!"**_

With a clenched jaw, Naruto aimed the rapidly forming Bijuudama at the approaching fireball. The two attacks met for a moment, the roaring chakra of the Bijuu colliding with the intense flames of the Uchiha, only for the former to spear through the fireball like it was nothing.

The explosion that rocked the battlefield was incredible. Even from where he stood, the tremors still managed to send him stumbling about like a drunkard.

Focusing on the seal, Naruto flooded the construct with the chakra he had received from the Sage. When they had received the chakra, Hagoromo had instructed them on how to seal the Progenitor away…however, what he had left out was the fact that she would be sealed inside the descendant with the most potential to house her.

As a result, the Infinite Tsukuyomi was still in effect and he had no idea how to cancel it.

He tensed and swung his blade, which met Sasuke's and easily sliced through the lightning coated blade. Glaring at the unique Rinnegan that stared angrily at him, he bashed his head against Sasuke's.

" _ **Naruto, she's-!"**_

His hair came to life, growing several times longer in the spans of an instant. It latched onto them both, tying their limbs and preventing them from escaping.

"Shit!" Naruto struggled as hard as he could, but he could feel the seal deteriorating further. It was taking all he had just to keep her locked inside him, and he still didn't know how much time he had left.

Sasuke grit his teeth, focusing chakra into his left eye. Madara had been able to do it, so it stood to reason that he could also utilize Sharingan techniques with his stronger Rinnegan. Empowering the jutsu with the chakra he had received from the Sage, he focused entirely on the person he had once called a friend. "It's over, Naruto! I've won! Amaterasu!"

As he prepared to cast the mighty eternal flames, unknown to the last shinobi in the Elemental Nations, something strange happened.

Optimistic and idealistic as he was, Hagoromo was not a fool. There was a reason he had bestowed chakra to Naruto first, as well as why he had changed the seal from encasing the Progenitor in the Chibaku Tensei to sealing it within the one with the most potential between the two.

Indra had been his pride, the son he had always envisioned having; he had inherited special eyes and chakra, took to his teachings like a fish to water and had been the one who shone brighter. Ashura had shown him that he was wrong, and impressed him enough to receive his blessing and be named his successor.

He had seen how Indra had reacted. Watched for generations as their descendants continued the mad cycle of fighting. Understood and hated how the Uchiha and the Senju had become.

So, when he appeared before the current incarnation of Indra, he had taken a few precautions this time around.

Sasuke screamed as his chakra was inexplicably sucked out of his body, travelling through the prehensile hair that held him down into Naruto. His eyes, wide and blazing, watched with horrified fascination as his body began to disappear, drifting apart as flecks of chakra that were integrated within Naruto.

"No…NONONONO _ **NONONONOOOOOOO**_!"

Naruto screamed as the Yin chakra surged into the seal, strengthening and quickly stabilizing it. Still, even though the chakra was ultimately saving him, he felt as though he was dying; the chakra raged and lashed out within him, destroying, healing and destroying his body and chakra pathways in a never-ending cycle of regeneration and destruction.

" _ **Naruto, try and bear with it! If you give up now, this will all be for nothing!"**_

Even as he howled his agony to the empty world, the screams of his traitorous teammate gradually ceased as he was absorbed by the seal. The bones that had sprouted from Naruto's arms retracted back to his flesh, which sealed itself up the second it was done. His hair receded, returning to its usual shoulder length, but was now a silver colour.

Finally, as he fell to the soft earth, darkness slowly stealing his sight away, he felt his chakra stabilize.

* * *

" _This world is full of things that don't go as you wish. The longer you live the more you realize reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness… Listen… In this world, whenever there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exist, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars and hatred is born to protect love._ "

* * *

Mismatched eyes stared at the hulking beast that lumbered towards them, taking in the strange features of the creature. With each step the beast took, the earth trembled in its wake. It was large, far larger than anything in the vicinity, and its thick black fur made it stick out even more in the dense green foliage. Large and sturdy boney spikes were present on its back and arms, and its face was obscured by a white, bone-like mask with red detailing, leaving only its jaw unprotected.

The owner of the eyes, however, felt no fear when he gazed upon the approaching beast. Cocking his head, causing whitened out, almost silver, hair to fall over his eyes, the young man watched calmly as the creature growled and quickened its pace.

"That's cute," he muttered, his words hidden and distorted by the wind. The creature paused, hunkering down at the faint words that he spoke. His lips curled upwards, twisting into a horrible parody of a smile, "thinking you're going to have your way with me."

The beast tensed, preparing to charge at the strange smelling human, when the killing intent flared up. Suddenly, inexplicably, the beast found itself frozen; its instincts blaring in its head to escape, to flee from the smaller being, but it could not bring itself to move.

Slowly rising to his feet, the young man faced the immobilized beast. The twisted smile lessened somewhat, though it remained a mockery of a smile, and he began to close the distance between them with slow, deliberate steps.

"I doubt you can understand me," the beast's struggles to run away grew more desperate the closer the man drew, "but thank you for volunteering." He stopped right before the beast and gently stroked the white mask. The desire to kill, wafting off him in waves, was now right up in the beast's face, and the creature was almost blinded by the desire to _get away_.

"Ningendō (Human Path)" He intoned.

As a few moments passed, with nothing happening to either the human or the creature, the smile dropped from his face. He gripped the mask firmly, trying once again to activate his ability, only for nothing to happen.

"Well…that's disappointing."

With a blinding motion, a sharpened black rod was embedded within the mask. There was an inhuman shriek from the beast as multiple rod ends erupted from within its skull, multiple branches forming as it collapsed.

Frowning slightly as he watched the decomposing creature's diminishing body, he exhaled lightly. Glancing at the sky, catching sight of the vast expanse of space, he shrugged to himself, the action causing what remained of his tattered clothing to finally fall off. Paying no attention to them, he scratched his head slightly. "I suppose a summon would be the best option right now," he muttered.

Slamming his hand to the earth, a huge cloud of smoke erupted from his position, completely engulfing his lean figure and rendering his surroundings invisible, if only for the moment.

With a flap of his summon's wings, the dust cloud parted to reveal a huge hawk; while resembling a normal hawk, the summon was much larger in terms of size to one. He was brown in colour while having darker areas along his back and wings along with his tail. There were also dark markings around his eyes as well as red ones along the sides of his beak.

"Garuda, it's good to see you again," he greeted. Hopping unto the summon's back, he braced himself as the large hawk took off into the sky with a mighty flap of its wings.

Soaring into the sky, he settled himself for a long journey and gestured towards the north. "Let's go that way and see what we can find," he instructed. Garuda screeched his assent and took off, dashing away with speeds that made the forest they had left dwindle and draw farther away until it was nothing more than a tiny speck in the distance.

Heaving a relieved sigh, he settled down and stared at the vast expanse of unfamiliar land that was stretched out before him.

He had a bad feeling that he was nowhere near the Elemental Nations…

* * *

" _Hashirama's country was a shameful contradiction… Man seeks peace, yet at the same time yearning for war… Those are the two realms belonging solely to man. Thinking of peace whilst spilling blood is something only humans can do. They're two sides of the same coin. To protect something… another must be sacrificed. That is, other than that of, say a dream world._ "

* * *

Murmurs, whispers and strange looks were present as he walked through the settlement he had happened to come across. Garuda had dropped him at the borders of the village, which he presumed the settlement was, and he had walked through the streets on his own. He had attracted more than a few odd looks from the inhabitants, which he attributed to his eyes and current lack of attire; after all, when was the last time a half-naked person was undressed simply because he wanted to parade around the area without a shirt?

He strolled along the streets, taking in the odd signs and lights that were plastered everywhere. He heard snippets of the language spoken, and was pleased to discover that it was perfectly understandable to him. The written language, however, was stylized in a way that made it stand out and he believed it would take him a while to get used to it.

A movement caught his eyes, and he lazily glanced at the pair of teenagers who had just exited a bar of some kind. Unlike the people he had seen on the streets, these two wore armor plates over their bodies, indicating a higher status or class of some kind.

His eye narrowed as one of them pointed at his face, a disdainful sneer planted on his face. His companion turned to face him, his eyes growing just as disdainful as his friend's, and they both began making their way towards him. His eyes caught the movements of their hands to their sides, where he presumed they stored whatever weapons they carried.

He doubted this encounter would end without violence; the look in their eyes was not unlike the looks of the villagers before he saved Konoha from Nagato's attack. Withholding a sigh, he faced the approaching duo head on.

"Hello, is there anything I can do for you?" he asked, surreptitiously channeling chakra to his eyes. Even if his Genjutsu failed to take hold like the Human Path on that beast, he still had to at least try and end things peacefully. If that failed, well…he'd cross that bridge soon enough.

"Hey, d'you hear that? _Is there anything I can do for you_?" The taller one parroted his words back in a mocking tone. His partner sneered at him, and he mentally sighed. "Look you stupid animal, you've got some nerve walking around here after what your White Fang buddies did."

' _White Fang?'_

His confusion must have shown on his face, and the duo's sneers deepened. "Look at this freak, acting as if he doesn't know anything we're talking about!"

Glancing at his surroundings, he frowned as he noticed the looks people were shooting at him. _'They agree with these two…'_ If anything broke out, he couldn't expect any kind of aid from the people.

"Hey, freak! We're talking to you!"

Growing tired of the conversation, he tried to end it with a genjutsu. However, as he locked eyes with the person screaming in his face, the usual sensation of grasping one's chakra flow never came.

A chill run down his spine. Genjutsu were no longer an option in this place…

"Forget this," he muttered. Focusing his chakra, he rose to the air as two black orbs manifested behind him. Ignoring the confused cries of the people below, Naruto took off towards the skies.

He had to get his bearings, and fast.

* * *

 **A/N: First off, this fic isn't my main focus, so updates will be slower than usual. I just got into RWBY, liking it so far, but I want to have Volume 2 under my belt before I start making changes. I mean, I have enough knowledge to plan an arc based on Volume 1, but I'd rather things be this way.**

 **Secondly, there are some rules I'm going to be having: Chakra is Naruto's thing; no one else will have it. Same with Dust and Aura in Remnant; Naruto will not be getting any other abilities. No other Naruto characters will appear; if they do, it will be in Naruto's head.**

 **Read and Review,**

 **MaelstromBankai**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!**

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

Taking a glance round the café, the young woman let a soft sigh slip past her lips and leaned back against her seat. Despite the fact that she had only just arrived, she was already planning to admonish the man she was waiting for; after all, he was the one who had suggested this place, despite the fact that she had been out of Vale at the time, and had caused her to push back her schedule by several days.

Tucking away a lock of white hair, her blue eyes glanced about the establishment. There weren't that many people within the simple café, which she attributed to the fact that today was a Sunday. She sighed once again when she didn't catch sight of her contact. "Just great," she muttered, "And I thought he would have changed."

Glancing at her menu, she decided to push her thoughts of the strange man from her mind and focus on the various options listed.

"Good day to you, ma'am. What would you like to order?" A waiter had come up to her, a nondescript person who she wouldn't have picked out from the background, and she nodded.

"Yes, I'd like a cup of tea with a medium sponge cake please."

"Very well. Enjoy your afternoon ma'am." She watched him leave, then focused her attention back to the silver-haired man she was waiting for.

Naruto Uzumaki…she had met him a few years ago, when she had barged into her father's meeting one time because of the distance his work had created was affecting her sister greatly. She had ignored the indignant sputters of his secretary and marched into his office, preparing to yell into his face if that was what she had to do.

The appearance of a young man, who looked like he could have been her brother had it not been for his strange eyes, had brought her to a halt.

"Even after all this time, you still have a weakness for sweet things." Her eyes snapped towards his voice, the unexpectedness sending a jolt through her. Outwardly though, she casually turned to face him as he approached from the entrance.

He was different than she remembered, a usual thig for him for as long as she and her father had worked with him. Unlike the last time she met him, he had opted for a more mature look for their meeting; he wore a dark coat with a long tail on the right side, and a collar with a larger left side. There was a Brassard on the left bicep of the coat, which also had blue, ornate scrollwork sewn into the left side of the upper back, and a blue lining. As he approached her, she noticed that his hands were covered by white gloves, and he had blue dress slacks, with black leather shoes.

Her heart fluttered at his appearance, but she ruthlessly squashed the sensation back. His left eye, characterized by its light purple color with a ripple pattern and 'commas', met hers and he smiled that slight, mocking smile of his at her.

"What took you so long to get here?" She demanded, her irritation bleeding into the question. Her irritation rose as he gave her a light shrug, pulling the chair across her back and taking a seat. "Do you know how long I have been waiting here for you?"

"Two minutes, just after you ordered the medium sponge cake." His easy reply caught her off guard, but only for a moment.

Glancing back at the waiter, she stiffened when he faced her and winked; for that moment, with his face facing hers and hidden from view of the others, the warm brown left eye of his had shifted to the same purple one she was familiar with.

Glancing back, she forced her sudden unease back. Judging by the quick tug of his lips, she wasn't entirely successful. "Let's just get down to business, I have a meeting in two hours and you already know why we're here." Leaning forward, Winter Schnee stared hard at him. "Will you take this job, or do I have to find someone else?"

His answer was instantaneous, "I wouldn't have asked you to meet me here if I wasn't interested. There are a few issues I'd like to iron out here and now, but I have a feeling there won't be anything to make me change my mind."

"What kind of issues?" Winter skeptically asked. "The message I sent should have all the information and conditions necessary for you to carry out your objective."

Relaxing into his seat, her companion smiled. It was a nice smile, one that would make everyone acknowledge it as 'beautiful'. Winter, however, felt _something else_ that made her heart race as she saw that smile. It was the little moments like these, where he showed a side of himself that he always hid from view, which had made her ultimately choose this course of action. "Well, this has to do with the boundaries of those conditions. You mentioned that I would be free to act in any manner I saw fit so long as it protects my client." Pausing to take a sip of his tea, he allowed her a moment for the implication to sink in.

By the serious light in her eyes, as well as the tense shifting of her body, she had indeed caught his implication. "Are you serious?!" Winter lowered her voice as she hissed, "You can't just have someone killed and use our contract as an excuse! If my father finds out about this-!"

He silenced her with a scoff. "Please, if I ever got caught then I'd deserve to get arrested. Your father will have no idea about this little deal we're having, so you can relax. He won't find out what I do, so you don't have to worry about me using your name to throw you and your family under the bus. Besides," his tone shifted, losing the humorous shade it had before, "there's no doubt that members of White Fang will be waiting for an opportunity to get back at your family through her."

White Fang. A radical political group in Remnant, once founded as a symbol of peace and unity between the Faunus and Humans, they had changed their policies and sought to achieve Faunus using fear and violence.

How ironic that he was in this world, watching Nagato's words about pain in motion.

"After all, when a snake wants to feast on a hawk, it goes after the weak chick. If they can't get to you directly, then there's no doubt that they will seek to hurt you through your sister." Setting his cup down, the clink noise of the teacup echoed loudly in the silence that followed. "So I'll ask you head on; how far am I allowed to deal with situations?"

Winter didn't give him an immediate reply, but he was fine with that. He had a few other things to talk to her about before she left, and he wasn't going to be doing much for the rest of the day. Taking another sip of his tea, he relaxed his posture against the seat. "You don't have to think too hard about it; even if we don't clear this up now, there's still a week before she has to leave for Beacon. I'll give you that much time to think things through."

"No, it would be best to get this cleared up as soon as possible." Heaving an irritated sigh, Winter stabbed at her cake as she replied. "Do what you must to protect Weiss, but make sure you don't get caught doing so."

He nodded at her, seeing no need to reply. She knew how he did things, and was only speaking out because she was worried about the possible consequences that their deal would have.

A sudden influx of memories alerted him to the dispelled clone's report. Sifting through the knowledge that he had suddenly gained, he arched a brow as he registered particularly intriguing details. _'Interesting…'_ he mused.

Placing his cup down again, he moved on to the next issue on his mind. "Alright, let's move on to the next bit; how will you be able to justify my existence to Ozpin? I may not know him as well as most people, but I've heard of his observation skills and intellect. And," he levelled a dry glare at her, "if you think I'm going as a student, then you're going to have to rethink that idea."

Winter rolled her eyes at that last part. "Really? A little issue like that is what gets you upset?"

"Would _you_ want to go through four years of training again?"

She paused, thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't see why that would be a problem; if anything, that opportunity would be beneficial in going over the basics and such. Grow a pair and just do it."

Naruto sighed heavily, "Winter, need I remind you that this contract doesn't mean that you own me? I have other clients that make use of my services, and enrolling as a student to Beacon just limits what I can and cannot do with my clients."

"Find a way to deal with the situation; your skills aren't something that Beacon would look for in a teacher, any sort of menial job would make it harder for you to complete your assignment because then you'd be stuck at Beacon, so you'll have to go as a student." Winter remained unfazed by his situation, but he wasn't too upset with her attitude.

After all, he had done the same thing to her once or twice before.

"Okay, okay…I'll go as a student, but we're going to have to forge a few documents. I just hope you have a way to convince Ozpin to let me into Beacon, especially this close to the academic year starting so soon."

Winter smirked, "Trust me, he'll let you in."

Naruto sent her a doubtful look, then shrugged, "Whatever you say."

* * *

Stepping into his apartment room, Naruto arched his brow when he heard the sound of running water as well as the unmistakable sound of lathered soap running over flesh. Glancing at the dark-red, off-the-shoulders, v-neck minidress with yellow designs that was sprawled across the nearest object, namely the couch, he immediately felt his skin tingle like it had been electrocuted.

There were a few people he knew who would do something like this, but there were even fewer who had such command over his body and emotions. Plus, he knew only one woman who wore that kind of dress…

His eyes darted back to the bathroom door, where the sounds were coming from. How would he go about this? Placing his coat on the closer hanger, he decided to see how far things would play out if he was a bit mischievous.

Quickly stripping off the rest of his clothes, Naruto headed to the shower. Opening the bathroom door, he casually stepped inside and opened the shower door, revealing the young woman languidly washing herself with no care in the world.

As he stepped in, his purple, rippled and tomoe eye met her bright, nearly glowing, amber eyes. Her ashen-black hair, usually wavy but straight when wet, framed her face as she turned to face him. The tingle returned, stronger than ever, and he felt the atmosphere tinge with tension. She smiled at him, the sly tilting of her lips capturing his attention completely. "You're back early," she said, her eyes soaking in his naked state.

"Business wrapped up fairly quickly this time around," he replied, closing the distance between them. He could tell by the stiffness of her nipples, as well as the intense look in her eyes, that he wasn't the only one affected by the tension.

Despite the leap his heart made as he brushed past her arms, Naruto's face remained as laidback as he grabbed the lathering soap and sponge that hung on the showerhead. He could feel her eyes on him as he proceeded to clean himself, squeezing a sizable amount of soap unto the sponge. "I take it Mercury sent the report?"

She made an affirmative noise as she drifted closer to him. That sultry smile grew just a bit larger when she noticed him pause and appraise her with an intense eye. Reaching out, she brushed aside the lock of hair that obscured his other eye, revealing the Rinne Sharingan. "My, my…even after all this time, you still try to keep your best feature hidden from me."

He smiled, but there was a dangerous, cautioning glint in his eyes. "Some things are best left undisturbed, Cinder. While you may like playing with fire, you're still likely to get burned if you get too close."

Her hand dropped from his hair, moving towards his chest. She drew closer, effectively melding their bodies together, and she smirked as she felt something hot and hard press against her. "Funny, I'd always taken you for a bolder person," Wrapping her hands around him, she let out a pleased moan as he reciprocated and hugged her closer to him, "But that's okay. I like playing with fire, Naruto…and you are the brightest flame I've ever seen. So, no matter what you say," he gasped out as she shifted and grabbed his member, placing it right between her thighs. He let out a shuddering moan as he felt her wet and hot nether lips on his erect rod, "I'll keep playing with you, even if you try to burn me," she purred into his ears.

Mismatched eyes connected with glowing amber orbs. He could feel her heartbeat through their body contact; despite her outward appearance, the thunderous beat of her heart and the wetness of her nether region told him more than her words ever could.

"You're such a stubborn, masochistic woman."

"And you're a stubborn, deliberately obtuse man. One way or another, you _will_ be mine." With her declaration, she captured his lips in a surprisingly gentle embrace. The showering water had gotten progressively warmer the longer they remained, and the heat made the experience one he enjoyed immensely.

He let out a pleased moan, well aware that he was letting his guard down, and savagely reciprocated. She let out a surprised mewl at the switch in tone, and he tightened his grip around her luscious rear. "Fine then," he rasped, punctuating his words with several little kisses that trailed from her lips to her neck, "show me what I'm missing."

Cinder Fall's response was to passionately show him exactly what she had in mind.

* * *

Later that evening, after his passionate session with Cinder had ended and she had left for who knows where, Naruto found himself sitting on the balcony and watching the broken moon that hung up in the night sky.

It had been roughly two years since he had found himself in this strange new world…and he had found them surprisingly soothing. There were some similarities with his home, and there was certainly unrest brewing that could lead to hard times in the future, but he had found his experience in Remnant surprisingly relaxing.

The fighting styles of the fighters, those known as Hunters and Huntresses, had caught him off guard when he first encountered them, and still did to this day; guns were pretty much non-existent in the Elemental Nations, and had been a nasty surprise when he had bumped into some of the more famous Hunters. He had devised several means to get around this, but it wasn't nearly enough; with each new Hunter he met, new and more creative ways of using weapons and fighting were shown to him. The Semblences of Hunters, similar to Kekkei Genkai, were also another surprise for him.

Still, he was much calmer than he had been when he first appeared; his first week had been him constantly battling and evading the Hunters that were eager to capture the 'mutated Faunus', or whatever it was they had called him back then.

A sudden beep caught his attention, and he grabbed his Scroll to check the message he had just received. A moment later, his lips thinned to a narrow line. "Goddammit."

Releasing a sigh of frustration, he flipped through the various tabs until he came across the number he was looking for. Flicking the 'call' symbol, he brought the Scroll to his ears.

"What do you want?"

He rolled his eyes, "Don't act grumpy, it's nowhere near your bedtime. Anyways, is it ready?"

"Yamato? Yeah, she's ready for use. To be honest, I'm still not sure why you want just a sword as your weapon; what are you going to do about long-range fights?"

Naruto glanced at his arms, his lips twitching when a sharpened bone seamlessly slid out of his left hand. "I've got a few secrets up my sleeves. Trust me, a sword is all I need right now."

"Whatever you say, ya bastard. When do you need it anyway?"

"I'll come pick it up tomorrow; I've got a new job that starts in a week, so I'll swing by Signal to have a drink with you."

"Alright then. Take care, Whiskers."

He twitched. "Fuck you too, Qrow."

* * *

 **A/N: Off to a somewhat slow start here; I just wanted to show some of the people Naruto knows at the start of RWBY canon. Weis is implied to know of Naruto as well, and**

 **To everyone that reviewed, saying that Genjutsu can affect people with chakra…Infinite Tsukuyomi is the only exception to that rule, and it was cast by someone who had essentially become a god in the Narutoverse. One exception does not mean that ever other Genjutsu can affect someone from another dimension, using different forms of energy.**

 **Also, Naruto is 19 while everyone else is their canon age.**

 **Pairing: Undecided. Cinder wants Naruto, but he knows she has ulterior motives and as such has only a physical relationship with her; you could even say they're 'friends' with benefits. I'm interested in Blake, Weis and Pyrrha…but we'll see where things go.**

 **I was also thinking of including the Otsutsuki (Toneri, Kinshiki, Momoshiki) and I want to know your opinion; I'll put up a poll to see your opinions.**

 **Read and Review!**

 **MaelstromBankai**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

"You sure took your time getting here, you stupid drunk."

A drunken laugh was the only response to his words, a laugh that came from the older man that had just entered the room. "Heeeey thar buuud…when did you get here?"

Naruto sighed in disbelief, shaking his head at the slurring friend of his stumbling into his own office. "Seriously Qrow, how in the hell do you manage to keep your job here at Signal with the stench of alcohol all over you?"

Qrow barked out another laugh as he neared his desk, brushing past the person he had been waiting for and seating himself in his chair with a satisfied sigh. "Always the serious one, aren't ya? I can't really say much, but there's a reason Signal Academy can't afford to fire someone like me." Qrow was an interesting person; he had graying black, spiky hair, with a red, tattered cloak, and wore a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. He also had a ring on his right index finger, two other rings on his fourth finger, and a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant.

Naruto raised a brow at him. "Let me guess; it because you're-"

"It's because I'm awesome!" Qrow interrupted, boisterously flinging his hands back and flashing a cocky smirk at the younger man. He held that smirk for a moment longer before it abruptly disappeared, and he focused his surprisingly clear eyes on Naruto's solitary demonic eye. "So, are you ready to pick up that sword of yours? I gotta admit, that material you gave me has me worried that making the sword was a mistake; it would've been more rewarding to just make some other weapon with that kind of metal."

Naruto shrugged, unaffected by Qrow's words. "I can give you some more, if you're that interested. I get what you're saying; it's not often for people to come across rare windows of chance. Opportunities are like sunrises; if you wait too long, you miss them."

"I'll keep that in mind," Qrow said. Waving towards the empty chair before him, he leaned back on his own seat and gestured to Naruto to make use of it. "Anyways, let's talk a bit. How's your week been so far?"

Taking his seat, Naruto paused in disbelief as he saw the bottle that Qrow had slipped out of his pocket. The disbelief increased when the Hunter casually opened the cap and begun gulping down the clearly alcoholic drink with gusto. "Your liver is going to kill you one of these days," he declared.

Qrow barked out a laugh. "Please, the day I die of liver malfunction is the day you bend over and take the biggest dump all over that Atlas Ice Queen of yours."

Naruto leveled a flat look at him. "Was that image _really_ necessary man?"

Qrow waved him off, his lips quirking upwards. "Stop ignoring my question; what have you been up to these past few weeks? Last I heard from you, you were going to clear out a Grimm nest in some uncharted territory up north."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Oh right…that was three weeks ago, wasn't it? It was actually pretty boring; there was a nest of Death Stalkers that was terrorizing the nearby villages, as well as several packs of Ursa roaming around the area, but…well, they weren't that difficult to put down."

He hadn't gone _too_ crazy with his jutsu that time, but he had been stressed enough to use his more destructive techniques on the Grimm. The Ursa packs had been destroyed with a few of the fairly underpowered jutsu he had been working on, which had turned out to be a rather disappointing scene since they had exploded into dust the moment the dust clouds parted.

The Death Stalkers, on the other hand, had been wiped out with quick and frustrated use of variations of the Rasengan. It had been a disappointing day for him, so he had opted to finish them off quickly rather than play with them. He hadn't tried using the higher end jutsu at his disposal, however; that one incident he had with Cinder had been…explosive enough to deter him from throwing them about like candy.

Qrow arched a brow as he leaned back in his seat. "Only someone as ridiculously broken as you would call that kind of job 'boring'." He took another healthy swig of his drink, and released a hearty sigh. "So, what happened after that? I doubt that you just sat on your ass from that point until now."

Naruto's eyes glazed over lightly as he recalled what had occurred between then and now. "There was a meeting Lord Schnee had to attend in Vacuo. I'm not sure why he had to travel that far, but he was concerned that some of the more unsavory Faunus may try an attack."

"Let me guess, nothing happened."

"Right," Naruto felt a tad irritated at the pitying look Qrow was sending him. "We were there for only a few hours, and I got to play around in the sand for a bit. I'd say that was better than sitting around in some office for them to wrap up their discussion."

It had been surprisingly fun utilizing his power over sand to create all sorts of shapes and objects, especially when passersby stopped to take a closer look at him dicking around with his powers. The people of Vacuo didn't recognize him also, which was a bit of a shame; while he didn't loudly make his presence known everywhere he went, he didn't go out of his way to hide his appearance wherever he went.

Qrow snorted at that, "What are you, a kid? I would've thought you'd be more interested in chasing the Faunus girls over there."

Naruto's glare was as cold as the snowy dimension of Kaguya's. "One. Time. It was one fucking time!"

"Come on Naruto, its okay to be honest with your buddy Qrow." That smug smirk on his face really increased the intensity of Naruto's displeasure. "I mean, you're at that age where you would be interested in the mysteries of a young woman's body."

"Fuck you, Qrow."

Qrow chuckled and rose to his feet, wobbling as he stood for just a moment. "Alright, alright…all jokes aside, I might as well give you what you came here for." Reaching into the tall closet that was right beside his bookshelf, Qrow retrieved a sheathed blade from its depths and casually tossed it to Naruto.

Catching the weapon, Naruto looked down at it.

It was a katana with an ornate bronze guard; the guard was an oval, and the tsuka-ito seemed to be braided from white and black material. The blade featured several intricate ornaments, most notable was a relief of a dragon at the endpoint of the hilt. The scabbard was black, made of traditional lacquered wood, and features several metallic ornaments on its far end.

"I still think you should have let me customize it as a sword/gun weapon, rather than a simple sword." Qrow grumbled as Naruto slowly unsheathed the blade and gave it an appreciative one over. "No offense, but everyone and their damn grandmother has a weapon that functions as some kind of gun…I know you've got more than a few advantages in your sleeve, but wouldn't it be more convenient for you if you could blend in with other Hunters?"

"I'm more comfortable with a simple weapon." Naruto injected a small amount of chakra into the blade, carefully watching the chakra flow with his eyes to prevent himself from drawing too much energy to make it visible. His thoughtful frown smoothened out to a pleased smile as the sword readily allowed the wind chakra to coat its length in an invisible layer. "Besides, it's just as you said," His visible eye locked unto Qrow's, "I've got more than a few surprises up my sleeves."

"Say no more, I can already tell that you're not gonna budge about this." Qrow sighed as he fell back into his seat. "Anyway, I'm going to be away for a while, and I won't be able to reach you while I'm out of the kingdom."

"Classified mission?"

"Yeah."

"When do you leave?" Naruto asked.

Qrow grimaced as he rose to his feet. "I was actually supposed to leave a week ago, but I wanted to finish this blade of yours before I left. I've got all I need packed up already, so at this point I'm just going to have one last meal here before I leave."

Naruto nodded and cracked a smile. "I'm not gonna be the one to make that offer. Anyways, I'll leave you to your devices right now."

"You're not going to test the sword out in this place?"

It was moments like this that made Naruto appreciate and keep an eye on the older Hunter; he may act like a drunkard, look like a drunkard, but using his alcoholism as a smokescreen to observe people was something that reminded him greatly of the Pervy Sage. "I've already got something scheduled to get familiar with Yamato."

* * *

The night was cool in Vacuo, which was nothing unusual to those that lived in the kingdom. After all, the land was largely a desert, which made the people that lived there quite adept to the harsh conditions of the area.

Naruto strolled through a particular stretch of the desert, his new sword secured in his left hand. As he walked through the relatively dead' land, he felt himself frown when he noted the Grimm that were up ahead in the distance.

Negative emotions flooded the land, saturating the very earth with such intensity that he could easily understand why the Grimm had congregated around this stretch of land. He could feel the anguish, despair, hate, and other emotions that the people who had lived here felt as they died.

It made him think of the Shinju, and the tale Madara had spoken about during the War to Hashirama.

As he neared the Grimm, his eyes narrowed when he took note of the different varieties that were converging in the area.

The Nevermores were avian that had features resembling those of several other bird species. Like other creatures of Grimm, they had a mask-like, white bony structure overlaying the upper front of their heads. They also had four glowing red eyes, two on each side of their head. The headpiece also included a dorsal spine or fin, reminiscent of that on the heads of condors.

Boarbatusks were a quadruped with many features associated with boars, including cloven-feet, a line of hair sprouting from their spine, snub snout, and tusks. The Boarbatusks had four eyes, a series of plates along its back and on its thighs, and two extra sets of tusks, including two large curving tusks. However, their underside was comparatively under-protected and vulnerable, with little to no body armor or shielding.

Contrary to most creatures of Grimm, which have black fur or feathers, the two Death Stalkers had a jet-black exoskeleton underneath several white, bonelike plates upon their back, which were adorned with red markings.

One of the more prominent attributes of these Grimm was the glowing golden stinger on their tails that they use as a lure. They also had a pair of large pincers that they used to defend themselves and grab/cut into their targets.

Naruto stared them all down, watching them approach with anticipation dancing in his eyes. Even though this was just for him to get familiar with the blade in his hands, he could not deny the trickle of excitement that the situation created in his heart.

He paused when he caught sight of a number of larger Grimm staying at the very rear of the crowd, seemingly watching him as the smaller, eager ones rushed towards his position. How…cunning of them.

"Well, well… looks like these beasts aren't so mindless after all," Naruto didn't take his gaze off the approaching Grimm, but his gaze hardened at the sound of that all-so familiar voice.

"You're one to talk about mindless beasts…even after all this time, you still can't admit that you were wrong?"

The person moved to his line of sight, obscuring his view of the Grimm with his long, spiky black hair. "The Bijuu were merely pieces of the Shinju artificially created by the Sage of Six Paths, imperfect in their mind and power. They were set in their hatred towards humans long before I was born, and the feeling soon became mutual." The figure shifted slightly, moving the long mane of hair to the side and revealing purple rippled eyes that locked unto Naruto's. "Tell me, Uzumaki; do you believe a creature that attacks for no reason, kills for no reason and repeats the process everywhere it moves should not be labelled as a 'beast'?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man who had a hand in the history of the Elemental Nations. "That's a very narrow view to have, Madara."

The Uchiha shrugged uncaringly, "It does not matter in the slightest right now. The beasts are almost upon you; it's a good thing you already have some instruction in swordplay, but the ease will not come swiftly."

Naruto marched right by Madara, unsheathing the sword as he did so. "I already have something in mind for that."

As much as he didn't like the Uchiha as a person, he still appreciated the lessons and memories Madara had shared with him. The more he learned of Madara's feats and skill, the more he came to understand why his very name struck terror into the hearts of Shinobi all around.

The first wave came upon him in a frenzied rush, a chaotic mass of fang, claw, fur and spikes that hurtled towards him. Lightning surged through the weapon as he swung, the chakra sharpening its already impressive cutting ability to the maximum. There was little resistance to his swing, and he carved a line through the faces of the Grimm in the blink of an eye.

In the next instant, the already dissolving corpses of the beasts were sent flying away from him. His Rinnegan glowed with power as he tapped into its abilities, blasting away another Grimm with the always useful Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God) jutsu of the Deva Path.

Flipping Yamato into a reverse grip, he streamed chakra into Yamato once more. Focusing his Rinnegan on the blade, he silently cast Amaterasu and shaped it to conform around the length of the blade with Enton.

"Enton: Kagutsuchi (Blaze Release: Added Tool Earth Lord)" With another swing of his flame-enhanced sword, spike-shaped projectiles were launched towards the airborne Nevermore.

"Hn. I suppose even an idiot like you can come up with some interesting combinations." Naruto clicked his tongue at the new voice, a scowl on his face as he glanced towards the new figure.

Uchiha Sasuke, looking the same as that night they had fought and sealed Kaguya, stared back just as coolly as his ancestor. Naruto tightened his grip on Yamato for a moment, the only indication that he acknowledged Sasuke's abrupt appearance. Then, when the moment passed, he ignored the shadow of his past.

He calmly eyed the second wave that was approaching.

"Chidori Nagashi (One Thousand Birds Current)!"

* * *

With a few more days left for him to get prepared for his latest 'contract', Naruto had decided that it would be better for all individuals involved if he got to know Winter's sister some more, as well as let her know that she would have to deal with the awkward situation of having to endure a stalker paid to do so by her sister.

Winter had turned the most amusing shade of red he had ever seen on her, be it by embarrassment or rage, and had sent him a few choice words regarding her opinion of that course of action. Naruto really didn't see why she was so adverse to letting her sister know she would be under surveillance during her time at Beacon; he understood that her sister, Weiss he believed she was called, would have issues with people in authority mapping out her life

So, after having a drink with one of the two people who were truly aware of who he was, and picking up the fantastic weapon that Qrow had managed to forge for him, Naruto had taken a small trip to the Kingdom of Atlas.

It was moments like these that made him appreciate the power of flight granted to him by the Truth-Seeking Balls; it would have been a lot more inconvenient for him to schedule a flight to Atlus at this time of the year, just around the point where most of the combat schools in Remnant started their next academic year, and he didn't want to be saddled with the

As he walked up to the large manor, his brows arched as he took note of Winter's unmistakable figure marching towards him with evident anger in her body language. Seems like she was trying to stop him from meeting her sister.

He rolled his eyes at that. _'This might get out of hand…'_

"Naruto, what are you doing here?! I thought I told you that this was to be kept under wraps!" Winter hissed at him, her usually cool expression replaced with an angry blush and desperate eyes. She still wore her usual work clothes, meaning she must have rushed over from her work to intercept him.

He rolled his eyes once more. "Look, this is a foolish decision; I need to be able to reach her as quickly as possible, and it would be easier for both of us if she knows that she has an escort. I'm not going to bullshit and try to pass me doing my job as being friendly to her; if she knows what's going on, it will prevent a lot of potential misunderstandings."

"Aren't you good enough to do your job without letting her know about it?" She snapped at him, taking quick glances every now and then to the windows of the third floor. "If my father finds out about this, he'll never let Weiss go to Beacon!"

Naruto glanced up at the windows, noticing a figure watching them from the one to the furthest right. "Again, I said I'm only going to let your sister know that I'll be stalking her for the next four years of her life." Ignoring Winter's indignant squawk, he continued marching towards the large manor.

Winter caught up to him soon enough, and tried once more to stop him. "Damnit Naruto, just stop already! She does not need to be told this!"

He paused his stride, looking back at the infuriated look on her face. "Okay, I'll bite. What is going on with you? Ever since I brought this up, you've been against me telling my client about the situation and working to create a system that benefits both of us." He turned to face her fully, taking in her defiant, desperate posture. "I may not know you fully, but I'm almost positive that this is out of the ordinary behavior for you."

She let out a harsh sigh. Why, of all the men she could have—She stopped that train of thought before it could lead anywhere; she had more than enough issues on her plate without including the matter of her relationship with Naruto to worry about.

Still, she trusted him enough to reveal her reasons for this course of action. "Follow me." Without another word, she marched off towards the closest room where she could have her talk with Naruto in private—the study.

Opening the doors, she turned to face him only to stiffen when a hand grabbed her from behind. She whirled about, a set of glyphs materializing behind her in that instant, only for her tense posture to slump when she saw the serious face of Naruto. "Damnit, you've got to stop doing that to me." She muttered.

He crossed his arms as she took a seat, idly noting that she had gone for her father's usual seat. "Okay, I'm really curious about this now. What's going on, Winter?"

* * *

Mismatched eyes examined the young woman before him carefully, taking in all the details of her appearance. She was a young girl, dressed primarily in light blue, white, and some red. She wore a pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly colored thigh-length dress with a piece of black lace making up the neckline of the dress. The inside of the bolero was red and the sleeves turned blue as they got closer to her wrists. The back of the bolero displayed the Schnee Crest, which bore a resemblance to a snowflake.

She also wore an apple-shaped necklace along with a pair of thin, rectangular earrings. She had white, heeled wedge boots that go to mid-calf; the insides were also lined with red. Her long white hair was pulled back in an off-center ponytail, at the base of which was a small tiara that resembled icicles. She has a pale complexion and ice blue eyes. She also bore a crooked scar down her left eye.

Likewise, the clearly younger sister of Winter was watching him with curiosity, though perhaps that was due to the fact that he was standing beside her sister rather than any personal interest in him. "Winter!" She stepped forward, sneaking one final glance at him in the process, and greeted her sister with a polite bow. "What brings you here today?"

"Weiss," Winter stepped forward, her emotions masked behind her cool and calm appearance. "There is someone I'd like you to meet." She gestured to Naruto, who winked cheekily at her. "This is Naruto Uzumaki, and he will be accompanying you as throughout your four years at Beacon." At her sister's shock, Winter spoke up again. "This is not up for discussion. Father would have liked to have more than one-"

"What?! But-but why?!" Weiss shouted, her disbelief and anger rising sharply. "There's no need for this, I can take care of myself in Beacon!"

"You do realize that you'll be a prime target for the White Fang, especially if you leave alone?" Winter interrupted, her tone alarmingly cold. Naruto glanced at her and winced; the amount of self-loathing that she was carrying went far more than he had expected her to feel. "Or do you not remember what happened to Mother?"

He winced again as he felt Weiss' emotions get overshadowed by the thick, disgusting stench of guilt and pain. "I-I.."

"You will be escorted by Naruto for the entirety of your time in Beacon Academy. Am I understood?"

"…Understood."

* * *

Naruto watched the skies as the aircraft made its way towards Beacon Academy. Feeling Weiss' frustration head further away, he glanced in her direction to see her moving to talk to another new student on the plane.

His eyes blinked, then focused on the person when he noted the red hair of hers.

The stranger wore her red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet, and had vivid green eyes. She also wore light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her eyes. She was significantly taller and quite muscular compared to most of the other girls.

Her top consisted of two layers. The top layer was a light-brown, strapless top split divided vertically with some bronze patterns. This may have been a piece of leather or metal armor as it appeared to be quite stiff, maintaining its shape without support; the layer also seemed to have some kind of riveting or small, round embroidery on the sides, which may also be heavy stitching. The bottom layer was a low bronze V-neck. She had an elastic, red, A-line miniskirt, which offered him a nice view of her legs, and brown cut-off sleeves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length drapery that appears to be wrapped around her skirt.

There was a small circular bronze plate by her right hip opposite a pouch with both connected to a belt. The plate bore another emblem, though he didn't recognize it. She also had a bronze circlet headpiece that could be seen above her ear and under her bangs. A pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds hung from her circlet on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck, and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm.

Unlike the rest of the females he saw on the aircraft, she wore armor. She had elaborate bronze greaves that started below her mid-thigh, continuing downwards into her boots and a pair of cuisses that began mid-thigh and ended slightly above her knees. She also donned a bronze bracer on top of the sleeve on her left arm, which appeared to be able to connect and disconnect from her shield easily. Her boots were brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves, and reach up to mid-calf.

When he caught the attention of the two, he sent them a smile and wave. Weiss glared at him and turned back to the redhead, who was sporting a light shade blush on her face. He continued watching them as they talked, occasionally switching his focus to the few other negative emotions he was sensing from other students, but his attention was mostly focused on Weiss and her apparent new friend.

When the stranger glanced back at him, he winked at her and chuckled as she ducked back into her conversation. It was strange yet exhilarating that he could tease her this much with just a wink and a focused gaze.

A flicker of unease, which was quite close to him, broke his staring. When he caught sight of the person responsible for it, he felt a pleasantly surprised smile spread over his face. "It's been a while, Blake. How have you been?"

The girl before him smiled gently as she sat beside him. "I've been fine, thanks for asking." She quirked her brows when he raised his fist at her. After a moment of staring at it, she bumped fists with him. "I never thought you'd be interested in going to a combat school like Beacon."

Blake Belladonna was of light olive complexion, similar to Weiss. She had long, wavy black hair, and her eyes were amber, complemented by light-purple eye shadow flaring backwards. Her eyes were slightly tilted upwards at the ends, giving her a somewhat catlike appearance. Fitting, considering her species.

She wore a black ribbon tied in the form of a bow which she almost never takes off. The bow is a cover for her Faunus heritage, a pair of black cat ears.

She wears black low-heeled boots and stockings that start off black at her hips, but gradually fade to purple as they near her shoes. On the outside of her stockings, there are white emblems that are most likely belladonna flowers. She wears black ribbons on both of her arms, with a black detached sleeve and a silver band on her left arm.

She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails, and a white sleeveless undershirt that exposed part of her midriff with white shorts that may have been connected to her shirt, although it was partly obscured by the vest. Her shorts hade a zipper on the front of each leg, but he didn't know if the zippers served a purpose or were simply decorative. She also had a detached scarf-like collar around her neck.

Taking her appearance in, Naruto smiled once again. Her attempt at fishing for information was rather obvious, but he took it all in stride. "You look good." At her look, his smile widened slightly. "You look _really_ good."

She rolled her eyes at him, but he caught her smile. "Flattery won't get you everywhere, you know." She gave him a once over as well. "What happened to your old clothes? Decided that red isn't your color anymore?"

He glanced down as well. He had changed his outfit a number of times, but his current clothing was something that appealed to him greatly; an orange sweatshirt with black stripes, along with black pants and sandals. "I figured a little change was in order." He shrugged.

Naruto chuckled and wrapped his arm around her in a hug. He was pleased to note that she didn't push him away. "Don't act like you're not enjoying the attention. Your blunt nature is a refreshing change from others, so don't you dare stop that," he mock-scolded.

She lightly bopped him on the head, smirking when he grinned back at her. "Alright, alright…I suppose I did miss your oh-so smug face. Just a little bit." She nudged him playfully.

"Really?" He nudged her back gently, "Come on, I know you were crying when I left back then." He had an absolutely shit-eating grin on his face, but he couldn't help it. It had been a while since he had gotten to talk to Blake like this, and he was feeling giddy about it.

He glanced back at Weiss, noting that her frustration wasn't as prominent as it was before. While that could mean a number of things, he believed she was too engaged with her conversation for her mind to bring up her emotions to the front of her thoughts.

Blake caught his glance and looked in the direction he was watching. Her pleasant, light demeanor changed when she caught sight of Weiss. "Naruto," he noted the shift in her tone, from light and teasing to cool and forcefully polite. "What's your business with the Schnee heiress?"

He leaned back, cracking his knuckles as he did so. "While I can't tell you the details, it has to do with why I'm in Beacon. Still, don't worry too much about it; she may be a bit…bitchy, she's not a bad person. Besides, she doesn't have any input in her father's company policies."

As they drifted back to lighter, pleasant topics, Naruto wondered how turbulent the next four years were going to be.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize for this taking so long. Finals kept me away from my stories until the 13th, and I've also been working on my other fics while developing this chapter.**

 **Madara and Sasuke: I enjoyed Arkham Knight's story, especially the way Joker was used...so I wanted to implement these two in a similar way. Kaguya, who is sealed within Naruto, is the only person that he can interact with; the Uchihas 'exist' as an illusion, not as people Naruto can interact with.**

 **Pairing: Still toying with ideas at this point. People have asked for Ruby, some have asked for Cinder and Winter, and I'm still not sure where it will go. We'll see where I eventually decide to take it.**

 **I've watched the latest episode, and I'm pleased with FINALLY getting an idea (a rough one, sure, but I'll take what I can get) of Cinder's plan.**

 **Read and review,**

 **MaelstromBankai.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

As he watched the aircraft carrying the new initiates land, he calmly took another sip of his coffee despite the intensity of his gaze. The familiar taste of his favored brand alleviated the heavy weight he felt on his shoulders, and made his straight posture easier to maintain. Despite his weariness, he could not afford to present himself as anything less than calm and collected.

' _Then again,'_ he wryly noted, _'this is hardly usual for me.'_ When was the last time he had personally come down to the landing strip and welcomed initiates to Beacon? He usually delegated the task to Glynda, who was more than capable of keeping each group orderly and in check. The conversation they had earlier today had pointed that fact clearly to him, but there were two individuals arriving today that required his immediate attention.

In his mind, the two individuals appeared before him. The younger one, a girl around the age of fifteen, he had met during the week. Even now, her appearance brought a sting of guilt to his heart; being a mirror copy of her mother, her eyes sparkling with innocence and purity, made his involvement with Summer Rose another mistake to his already large list. The fact that she had inherited the same silver eyes from her mother made her a potential piece in this chess war.

Ruby Rose. A girl who wanted to help others, that was the impression he got from their meeting a few days ago. Rather than her sister, who saw being a Huntress as a way for her to experience all sorts of thrills, she genuinely believed that becoming a Huntress would allow her to do good to Remnant.

It was a worthwhile goal, one that he held close to his heart…but it was the same goal that had led Summer Rose towards her death.

His lips twitched slightly. _'No, it was not the path that led to her death…it was me pushing her too hard that ended her life,'_ he thought to himself.

The other image in his mind's eye, a strange young man with mismatched yet powerful eyes, made the remorse sweep away and be replaced by a cold and analytical desire. Naruto Uzumaki, as he called himself, was a valuable piece in this war. Whether he was aware of it or not, his presence drew the attention of those who sought the kind of power he so casually wielded…especially _Her_.

His grip on the mug tightened subconsciously at the memory of that woman. Her crimson eyes, filled with tears and a hate that burned so bright the last time they met, flashed in his mind briefly.

While he held no grudge against the powerful man, the simple fact that he had displayed several incredible abilities to the entire world meant he had to aggressively pursue the man lest he pledge himself to someone with an agenda that spelled trouble for Remnant.

The fact that Winter Schnee had gone so far as to hire him to protect her sister was a bit of a golden opportunity, if he was perfectly honest. While Qrow had managed to befriend the enigmatic man, which had been surprisingly easy to do, Ozpin himself had never expected to meet with the young man so soon. Qrow had made his dislike about the situation known, but Ozpin knew Qrow realized the importance of his missions

While Glynda was not satisfied with his reasoning, she hadn't opposed his actions in the slightest.

His gaze focused on the dozens of students that poured out of the aircraft, smiling slightly at the impressed looks they directed towards Beacon Academy. It was almost guaranteed that his academy would have this kind of effect on new students.

His eyes caught sight of Ruby Rose and her sister Yang Xiao-Long within the crowd. There were identical smiles on them as they took in the sights of Beacon Academy. Considering their home was Patch, an island with very little scenery to boast of, the view his academy offered was more than appreciated by them.

His half-smile dropped when he caught sight of his other target, who was chatting amicably with another young girl he had interviewed recently. Blake Belladonna, a former member of the White Fang, was another individual he had been interested in; her desire to secure equality between humans and Faunus, which was the original goal of the White Fang, had pushed her to apply to be a Huntress.

Taking another sip of his coffee, Ozpin put on a charming smile as all the prospective students exited the airship.

* * *

Naruto didn't know what to expect from the headmaster of Beacon Academy, but he was sure that he had never done anything to wrong Professor Ozpin. So the fact that the man's frustration and wariness spiked each time their gazes met was a bit of a surprise to him.

Then again, maybe he had indirectly done something to draw the man's ire towards him. With his ever expanding list of people he managed to piss off in Remnant, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for one of them to be related to Ozpin in one form or another.

Still, that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things; Ozpin may not like him, but he couldn't turn down a potential student because of personal feelings.

That last thought dampened his mood slightly. His last conversation with Winter had been…quite intimate, and enough to sway him into agreeing to enter Beacon as a student if any complications came about. While he liked to think he was made of sterner stuff compared to his younger self, he admitted that it was easy to make him give people the benefit of the doubt.

It was why he channeled the Uchiha personalities whenever he was on duty; it allowed him to keep his focus on the task at hand and prevented him from getting too attached to the people involved. Of course, that didn't matter as soon as he was done with the task at hand.

Had he been more cynical in nature, it wouldn't have surprised him to think of his last conversation with her as Winter subtly manipulating him into feeling bad for making things needlessly difficult and agreeing to pose as a student to make it a little easier for her.

Glancing towards his charge, he smiled slightly as he watched her pay attention to Ozpin's little speech. _'She really is a suck-up,'_ he noted. No doubt the biggest reason she had approached the redhead from before was because of her clout and reputation.

Still didn't change the fact that Ozpin's speech seemed to be dragging a lot longer than it should.

"So, this is the man your lover is intimidated by." Naruto's body language didn't shift from its currently relaxed state, but he did mentally curse up a storm when he caught sight of Madara standing right next to the Headmaster.

Of all the time for the bastard to wake up again, he had to do so right now?!

The Uchiha's blank face cracked, a smug smirk sent towards Naruto as the transmigrant of Indra began to move about. Passing through the students like the ghost that he was, Madara paused to take a look at Weiss, who was standing within reaching distance. "This is the girl you're guarding? Be prepared to fight for every action you take."

Walking round Ozpin, Madara's perceptive eyes narrowed as he made his assessment. "Hn. A classic case of using his appearance to hide his skill and power. You should keep your eyes on this one." He advised. With that being said, the ghost of the Uchiha Clan retreated back to the depths of Naruto's mind.

* * *

When Ozpin dismissed them for the moment, stating that they would be summoned for a meeting in approximately three hours, Naruto had immediately caught up with Weiss and escorted her to drop off her luggage. With the last of her things stored, he decided to speak to her about possible measures she could make use of should the unthinkable happen and he was nowhere near her. This yielded poor results, something that was obvious in hindsight, he would admit.

He quirked a brow when she glared fiercely at him, "Alright, I'll bite. Why are you so opposed to this situation?"

"I do not _need_ a bodyguard!" Weiss snapped, which did little to make her intimidating. Sure, he might have been afraid of her when he was fifteen, but he wasn't the same person anymore. As hard as she was trying to rage at him, all her actions just made her appear childish. "I am fully capable of taking care of myself, and I don't want you breathing down on my neck every waking moment!"

"Your mother said the same thing, look where that took her," he replied, folding his arms casually while she actually took a step back. Judging by the tightly clenched fists and glare, the red on her face was not born from embarrassment. "You can scream, whine and cry about it, but it does not change the fact that you've got people out there who want your head on a pike to brandish."

"H-How dare you!" She hissed, marching right up towards him. This, however, made her shorter stature more apparent and less threatening than she intended. That didn't stop her from glaring daggers at him. "You think I don't know about any of that?! You think I'm some ignorant child throwing a tantrum?!"

He bore down on her, his eyes colder than they were before. "Do you want the truth, or do you want a lie?"

Weiss held her ground against his glare, but he could see the slight shaking her body made. After a moment of contesting wills, she surrendered, breaking their stare and twisting herself away from him. "I don't have time to deal with this. Just…just tell Father that I can take care of myself." The quiver in her voice was apparent, but he kept that to himself. She took a deep breath and faced him once again, "Look," she swallowed heavily, "I know you've already accepted this _job_ , but I'm not a child."

"Your current attitude says otherwise," he remarked flippantly, taking note of her frustrated posture. He sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Again, why are you so heavily against this? I'm not going to be interfering with your classes, I'm not sleeping in the same room as you unless the situation calls for it, and I'm not going to get in your way if you do something stupid unless it endangers your life…" He shrugged, his frustration bleeding out. "I don't see how this is such a big issue for you."

Granted, he could have phrased it a bit differently, but Naruto wanted her to know the reality of the danger she was in. While he was determined to protect her to the best of his ability, it didn't mean he would be fine with allowing her to do as she pleased and make his job more complicated.

"Also, allow me to shed some light on the situation." Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared down at the young heiress. "Beacon Academy may be a combat school with a good reputation, but it is still capable of being infiltrated. The White Fang are not the only people seeking to hurt you to get to your father, they're just the most vocal about their hate."

He glared down at her, "You don't need me to remind you of what the White Fang has done to your family, so get over yourself and let's get through this."

* * *

"Everything alright?" Naruto asked as he drew up to Blake. There was still some time until they were supposed to go for that meeting, and he had decided to familiarize himself with Beacon Academy. His charge had left in a foul mood, but he already had a clone tailing her at the moment. The shared vision of the Rinnegan was incredibly useful, even more so in Remnant.

Using the shared vision of the Rinnegan was not an easy thing, however; while it was not excessively difficult to get used to the differing views, it still took him a moment to make the transition from one pair of eyes to more than that. While continued practice would diminish the effect, he doubted that he would reach Nagato's level of skill with using the Rinnegan.

Blake, who was seated on one of the wooden benches that were scattered across the school, paused her reading to acknowledge his question with a nod. She shifted a bit, scooting closer to the middle for him to sit down, and he accepted her invitation with a smile. Settling down, he glanced at her book, this one titled _The Man with Two Souls,_ and actually started in surprise.

"I'm surprised you actually found someone to publish this script," Blake remarked as she bookmarked her page. Her eyes flickered to him, amusement dancing in them as Naruto averted his face with a light flush. "It's a pretty interesting story, you know. You shouldn't have dragged your feet with this one."

"Are you seriously going to rub the salt in even more?" He groaned, mock-glaring at her. The smile tugging at his lips gave him away, though.

She sent him a half-lidded look, "You've been hemming and hawing about this script for so long, I wasn't even sure you were going to actually send it somewhere."

"Okay, you got me there, but there were a lot of problems-"

"Naruto, the script was good." She cut him off ruthlessly, "Yes, I'm sure there were issues with the draft you submitted, but you could've had this out much earlier if you didn't keep putting it off."

He slumped in his seat, leaning slightly against her. "Got it, got it, Naruto's a thin-skinned baby who can't take criticism. What other words of wisdom will the great and perfect Lady Belladonna impart to us common folk today?"

Her lips curled into a satisfied smirk. "Adequate, I suppose. Your praise has dampened significantly, but I can look past that."

Naruto laughed out loud as he sat up, "Wow, ego much?"

"Get better at complimenting people without being excessive in praise and we'll talk."

There was a lull in the conversation, one that was welcome and comfortable for them both. Checking up on Weiss, Naruto made a thoughtful sound as his clone saw her interacting with the redhead from before. Now that he was paying more attention to her, there was something about her that was familiar to him. Still, Weiss networking the other initiatives could be worked to their advantage.

Fully shifting his vision to the second clone, he watched as the two young women conversed about fairly normal getting-to-know-someone-things.

He glanced at Blake once again, "How are you doing?" His voice was a lot softer than before, as bringing up this particular subject was a 50/50 with Blake.

She stiffened momentarily, but forced herself to relax with a heavy exhale. Closing her book once again, she turned to fully face him. "Naruto, I'd rather not talk about that for a while," she said.

"It's okay if you're not comfortable talking about it," he reassured her, "If anything, I'm at fault for bringing it up so soon." Reaching out, he grasped her hand and squeezed it slightly, "I know I'm not so good with these emotional things," he admitted with complete honesty, "but just know that I'll do whatever I can to support you."

Blake gave him a smile that had his heart skipping a beat and relaxed against him. "I know, but thanks for being there."

* * *

The moment he exited the showers, Naruto could feel the gazes of several students on him as he stepped out. It was no real surprise, to be honest; he had intentionally chosen to do reveal himself to them like this, mostly for simple fun and garnering interest.

His lower half was covered up by a white towel, the only thing preserving his modesty, leaving his top half completely visible. His hair was damp, which further matted it down, and water droplets occasionally dripped from his silver locks.

Walking up to Blake, who had actually stopped reading her book to watch, his smirk grew when he caught the interested glint in her eyes. The two girls who were standing around her also watched, but there was a difference; while the older blonde openly leered at him, the younger redhead was looking at him with curiosity.

Stopping right before them, he crossed his arms over his chest and grinned down at Blake. "So, you gonna take a picture or not?" His grin widened as he not-so-discretely gave her a once over, taking in her black yukata sleepwear. "Nice outfit."

Blake arched a brow. "Seven out of ten." She relished his surprise for a moment before returning to her book. At his indignant sputtering, she rolled her eyes. "You've done this before, and it's lost some impact. Get more creative."

"Well then, I don't suppose you'd mind if I do." The blonde girl quipped, slipping her Scroll out of her pocket and opening her camera app. Though surprised she had actually taken up his offer, he nevertheless allowed her to snap a few pictures of him. As she looked at them, her lips stretched into a grin. "Oh yeah, definitely putting these to good use," she muttered, unaware of Blake's bow twitching and Naruto's own smile.

"Thanks for the pics. I'm Yang, Yang Xiao-long, and this," she pushed the younger girl closer to them, ignoring the panicked look she had, "is my little sister Ruby." She declared.

"Oh?" He gazed upon the smaller girl, almost towering over her, and flashed her a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Red."

"Um…" her silver eyes, pretty unusual even to Naruto, darted everywhere but him, "Nice to meet you, though I don't know your name." She seemed to shrink into herself when she finished, but Naruto attributed that to being tossed to complete strangers by her sister.

Stretching languidly, feeling perverse delight at the attention his actions were getting from the other students, he crossed his hands behind his neck, giving them all an unrestricted view of his chest. "Well I'm not sure if you've heard of me before, but I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

 **A/N: Just finished this chapter. This was mostly set-up, but I feel this wasn't as satisfactory as it might've been. Unfortunately, my schedule just keeps beating me down and I wanted this chapter out of the way as soon as possible. I am reworking Chapter 3 as of the moment, which will have some more combat as well as a few other things added to it, as well as writing the 2** **nd** **chapter of 'The Unaided Path'. The next chapter of 'The Other Transcendent' is under construction as well.**

 **Naruto is not going to be a student. He is someone who takes all sorts of jobs, and Winter's request doesn't mean he's going to turn down any other offers; just because he has to keep Weiss out of danger doesn't mean he won't accept requests that target others.**

 **Read and Review,**

 **MaelstromBankai.**


End file.
